The Grandmaster

[student99]

Can anyone explain the battle in the rain with the "Razor"? Why was he fighting and who he was fighting? If they where Chinese why did they attack him with Japanese blades?

Those details where not covered in the version I saw. I know the director has the final say on how the story is told but I did not understand the details.

[GeneChing]

Razor is the biggest red herring character of the film. I totally expected his role to go somewhere, but in classic WKW fashion, he just sort of drifts away.

In the Chinese version, I thought he was going to be another point in a love triangle, but that never quite happens.

In the U.S. version, Razor is lined up to be a major villain, but also fades, although not quite as 'I forgot about him' as in the Chinese version. There is a final fight between him and Ip, but it is resolved poetically, not violently. That was one of the themes of The Grandmaster that I really liked, that old school notion of duelling not by fighting directly, but by fighting over some goal like breaking/preserving a cookie.

Anyway, Razor is another reason why I support the U.S. version more. In the U.S. version, he makes a little more sense and propels the story forward. In the Chinese version, he dangles rather indifferently in a most WKW fashion.

There's a ton of reviews on the web now. Half of them review the Chinese version and the other half, the U.S. version. You can tell the more seasoned critics because the reference both versions. Of course, the Chinese version came out much earlier (as you can read on this thread) so the reviews that are more than a few weeks older than this post are all of the Chinese version. They are exempt from my 'seasoned critics' comment as they couldn't have predicted the U.S. version.

[doug maverick]

was going to see this a 4th time.. yes fourth as i have now seen the chinese version twice and i wanted to see the american version one more time.. but they are showing a screening of the prodigal son, in theaters sooo.. sorry american version...lol..i might go anyway.

[Vajramusti]

FWIW- I saw the movie last Friday.IMO. it was a good movie- a classic impressionistic portrayal of Ip man in a cultural anl comparative kung fu setting in an era that is petty well gone.Well acted, produced and directed.
The romantic episodes are bit too drawn out, but overall a good movie-the best to date on Ip Man.

[Hebrew Hammer]

I also saw the American version of this film in the theater this weekend and The Grandmaster comes across as smooth, internal style, martial arts flick. The action is not over the top, in fact I found it somewhat subdued but appropriate for this film. The acting is fab, especially from my home girl Zhang Ziyi, she always has an incredible ability to convey emotion or passion, you believe she is the character being portrayed. It has the classic Chinese martial themes of loyalty, revenge and forbidden love. You will not be disappointed in seeing this film.

My hats off to fans of WC and Ip Man, the films about his life are amongst the best in recent history. Makes me wish I enjoyed WC more, the style doesn't speak to me but the films do. Bravo. If only the Choy Lee Fut film was anywhere near as good as any of Ip Man films. I can dream.

I will see the a Chinese version when available.

8 Bawangs out of 10.

[GeneChing]

But you're ahead of me by one extra viewing of the Chinese version. I considered going back for it - I still might. BTW, my wife thought there were too many fight scenes. I'm not sure if she said that just to irk me. She enjoyed it, but she felt it was a little overdone melodramatically.

On my third viewing, I gained more respect for what WKW was doing, but every line started to feel like Kung Fu Fortune Cookie wisdom. But still, it's a significant martial arts film, and you can't really call yourself a fan of the genre without engaging this one now.

Weekend Report: 'One Direction' Rocks, 'Instructions' Surprises Over Labor Day
by Ray Subers
September 1, 2013

Over a busier-than-expected three-day weekend, 3D concert flick One Direction: This is Us narrowly took first place at the box office ahead of Lee Daniels' The Butler. Including Labor Day, however, The Butler ultimately came out on top over the holiday weekend.

The big story, though, is the incredible performance of Spanish-language family comedy Instructions Not Included, which wound up in fifth place despite playing in fewer than 400 theaters.

While it was down year-to-year, overall business still came in at a solid level this weekend (the top 12 earned an estimated $92.6 million for the three-day frame). The riches were spread across a ton of titles: over the three-day weekend, 24 different movies grossed over $1 million.

Playing at 2,735 theaters, One Direction: This is Us opened in first place with an estimated $15.8 million ($18 million four-day). That's way off from the concert movies featuring Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson, all of which started with over $23 million. Still, it's noticeably ahead of concert movie flops from Katy Perry and the Jonas Brothers, and is a good figure for an inexpensive movie with a targeted (cheap) marketing campaign.

Sony geared that marketing effort directly at the British boy band's rabid young female fanbase, and they're the ones who accounted for most of the ticket sales: the audience was 87 percent female and 65 percent under the age of 17. They gave the movie a strong "A" CinemaScore, though that's not necessarily indicative of the movie's long-term prospects. More importantly, the movie had the highest Friday share of opening weekend ever (55.8%), which suggests it's going to be very front-loaded.

In second place, The Butler continued its excellent run by adding an estimated $14.9 million ($20 million four-day). To date, the historical drama has earned $79.3 million, and it now appears on pace to finish above $100 million.

Comedy hit We're the Millers earned $12.7 million this weekend ($15.9 million four-day) for a new total of $112.9 million. This makes it the sixth Jennifer Aniston movie to take in over $100 million at the domestic box office.

Opening at just 347 theaters, Instructions Not Included took fourth place with an incredible $7.8 million this weekend ($10 million four-day). That's significantly higher than other Spanish-language movies from Lionsgate's Pantelion division—Girl in Progress and No Eres Tu, Soy Yo earned just $2.6 million and $1.34 million, respectively, in their entire runs. Instructions star Eugenio Derbez also appeared in those movies, which makes Instructions's huge debut even more remarkable by comparison.

Not only do Hispanics represent a growing percentage of the U.S. population, but they also account for a disproportionately high amount of movie theater ticket sales. According to the Motion Picture Association of America's 2012 theatrical market report, Hispanics made up 17 percent of the population, but 26 percent of frequent moviegoers. In spite of this, there are very few movies made each year that are specifically targeted towards Hispanics.

Simply reaching out to Hispanics isn't enough, though, as proven by the low grosses of Girl in Progress and No Eres Tu, Soy Yo. It's also important that the story resonates, and Instructions Not Included's focus on family seems to have clicked with the audience.

The movie received a rare "A+" CinemaScore, which suggests that it could play well in the long-term. With great word-of-mouth and an incredible per-theater average, it wouldn't be surprising at all if Lionsgate attempts to expand this in to nationwide release next weekend.

Meanwhile, the weekend's other new openers bombed hard. Getaway opened in ninth place with just $4.5 million ($5.53 million four-day), which is on par with Dark Castle Entertainment's Bullet to the Head. The movie never looked particularly good, had a light marketing effort, and received awful reviews, so this debut is about in line with expectations. It received an awful "C+" CinemaScore, and should disappear from theaters quickly.

Playing at 870 theaters, Closed Circuit earned just $2.54 million over the three-day weekend. Including its Wednesday/Thursday grosses, the movie has so far grossed $3.06 million. Even taking in to account the light release, this debut is noticeably worse than that of past Focus Features Labor Day movies like The Constant Gardener, The American and The Debt.

After a week in limited release, The Grandmaster expanded to 749 theaters and earned $2.48 million this weekend ($3.12 million four-day).

As part of a double-bill with Star Trek Into Darkness, World War Z finally passed $200 million at the domestic box office this weekend. Meanwhile, Pacific Rim inched past $100 million.

[doug maverick]

But you're ahead of me by one extra viewing of the Chinese version. I considered going back for it - I still might. BTW, my wife thought there were too many fight scenes. I'm not sure if she said that just to irk me. She enjoyed it, but she felt it was a little overdone melodramatically.

On my third viewing, I gained more respect for what WKW was doing, but every line started to feel like Kung Fu Fortune Cookie wisdom. But still, it's a significant martial arts film, and you can't really call yourself a fan of the genre without engaging this one now.

thats in my little write up which will be out later today.. sometimes the dialogue felt like they were talking in poetry... and im like are they talking in code? is there a drug deal going down? wth is this?

[GeneChing]

it's all about Z on the O.P.

[Jimbo]

I finally got to see it, and enjoyed it quite a bit. I have to agree about the fortune cookie dialogue, though. I was noticing how extensive it was by about halfway through. It almost seemed akin to early 20th-century British people scripted to speak Shakespearean.

I really liked that other styles besides Wing Chun got to shine a bit. WC is fine, but recent films have been over-saturated with it. It was a small surprise to see Lau Ka-Yung (nephew of Lau Kar-Leung and Lau Kar-Wing) as the Hung Gar/Monkey stylist. I only wish that CLF had been a featured art.

The movie was every bit as much about Zhang Ziyi's character as Ip Man. And I thought Tony Leung did a great job in the role. He's one of those actors who can communicate a lot without saying many words.

[doug maverick]

so in writing my little ode to "the grandmaster" ive decided to include some video from behind the scenes.. and gene was right he was set up to be ip mans nemesis but i think because tony leung broke his arm they had to make some changes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86f0CbmnCGw

[GeneChing]

And just under $5 million domestic take, according to Box Office Mojo.

[Shaolinlueb]

so should I see this? too many pages to read.

[GeneChing]

Your return is some positive fallout from last weekend's website crash.

And YES, you should see this.

[GeneChing]

To quote myself in my original review of the Chinese cut of this film:

It is a gorgeous film, a filmmaker's film, the kind of film that you can spend hours deconstructing its cinematography if you're a film nerd.

Case & point:

The Necessity of Wong Kar Wai
Laura Schadler | September 3, 2013


Tony Leung in The Grandmaster.

As a 19-year-old film student, when I learned the definition of the word auteur, I was so excited I had to paint it on my stomach, Riot Grrl style, and make a movie about it. Youthful blasphemy aside, I’ve always been drawn to directors whose vision is so strong as to create that distinctive mood which would potentially define them as an auteur. Amidst all the terrible, formulaic crap that comes out, you have to appreciate someone, wholly successful or not, who is actually attempting something. It’s natural that being inventive might result in flawed movies. The risks of making genuinely creative work, with a boldness and experimentation that eschews mainstream concerns, are the sometimes shaky results. But those are the movies I want to watch. Demonstrating both the benefits and the downfall of being an auteur, Wong Kar Wai‘s swirling, vivid films are full of the mistakes, incongruities and strangeness of a visionary.

Fallen Angels (1996) was the first Wong Kar Wai movie I saw and it will be forever seared in my brain. It’s profoundly gorgeous, but the style is also the substance and that’s why it’s so phenomenal. It isn’t just gorgeous; it’s romantic and melancholy, rich with psychological exploration. It’s both cool and sincere simultaneously, a combination that is Wong Kar Wai’s signature strength. He’s clearly still concerned with style; in the closing credits to his newest, The Grandmaster, Tony Leung (a stoically bad-ass Wong Kar Wai regular) looks right at the camera and asks, “What’s your style?” It’s a wonderful moment, playful and serious, a non-rhetorical question, meant to be considered and answered. This isn’t about the surface of style, but the soul of it. In this semi-biopic tale, Leung plays Ip Man, a kung-fu master and Bruce Lee’s teacher, following his life and never-quite-romance with a fictional woman.


Fallen Angels

Watching Fallen Angels was the first time I really fell in love with cinematography. I became riveted by the iconic Christopher Doyle, who shot most of Wong Kar Wai’s movies, beginning with Days of Being Wild (1990) and ending with 2046 (2004). In some ways, my love of Wong Kar Wai movies is my love of Christopher Doyle cinematography. He also shot Last Life in the Universe, a brutal, surrealistic reverie directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and created the memorable palette of Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control. More than once when I’ve watched a notably well-shot film, it ends up being Christopher Doyle behind the camera. He is belligerently charming, calling Life of Pi, “a fu***** insult to cinematography” (Amen) and ranting about the authentic color of moonlight (it’s not blue). Unfortunately if you type Wong Kar Wai and Christopher Doyle into Google, one of the top suggestions is “falling out,” so he’s not the cinematographer for The Grandmaster. I was curious, but nervous, to see a Wong Kar Wai movie without Christopher Doyle’s singular touch.

Wong Kar Wai loves clocks, counters, rain, smoking cigarettes, leaning, stairways, stoicism, loneliness, slow motion, nostalgia and unconsummated everything. The Grandmaster has some of those things (the rain is awesome), but not others. Overall it gets a C+ and the plus is because I was looking for his tell-tale flourishes (they’re there) and forgiving him when other things fell short. A.A. Dowd aptly suggests that the confines of the biopic bogged down a director who thrives within fictional worlds. The need of The Grandmaster to explain everything was tiresome, as if endless voice-overs and chunks of text were necessary for us to follow the story. It was also cut from 130 to 108 minutes and by all accounts the longer version is superior. The confines of chronology and history make the story move inexpertly and incompletely through time.

Still there are moments to love in The Grandmaster, moments where Wong Kar Wai pauses and luxuriates as he should. One fight sequence has Zhang Ziyi flipping up in the air over Tony Leung, their faces centimeters apart, the flip slowed down. It’s a classic moment of Wong Kar Wai’s particular brand of sexiness. In Leung’s voiceover, he says of his initial meeting with her, “All encounters are reunions…” That too is classic Wong Kar Wai, the lonely man narrating a wistful truth to us from off-screen. This particularly beautiful line is nearly a thesis statement for all of his movies, a whispered burst of zen interruption, reminding us of what’s at stake. It kept ringing around in my head for days afterward.

Most of Wong Kar Wai’s movies spend their time illustrating the smokey, shadowy nuance of how we encounter one another, but The Grandmaster doesn’t spend enough time there. I immediately re-watched Days of Being Wild when I got home from watching The Grandmaster. The main character, a sociopathic playboy insists a girl (behind a counter, of course) stand with him for one minute and then proclaims them “one minute friends,” a status that is fact and can never be taken back. Wong Kar Wai has a gift for capturing the sensation of the present moment’s inherent transience. In Chungking Express (1994) the voiceover says, “At our closest point, we were just 0.01cm apart from each other.” At his best, Wong Kar Wai is concerned with examining these smallest of spaces between us. That 0.01 cm is evoked during In The Mood For Love (2000) when Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung pass each other on the staircase in a moment so restrained and sexy it’s nearly too much to handle. The aforementioned flip in The Grandmaster is also about that 0.01 centimeters. The immersion in those moments is why Wong Kar Wai’s movies are breathtaking.

Wong Kar Wai’s first and only English-language film, My Blueberry Nights (2007), was a flop. I hated it along with everyone else I ever spoke to or whose review I read. It was Wong Kar Wai trying to be Wong Kar Wai and it was sad and weird to watch. The Grandmaster is not like that. It’s a smart, careful, beautiful movie in a lot of ways. Some of the fights are spectacular, Ip Man is a fascinating person and I could watch Tony Leung brood for 108 minutes or 130 minutes or however long he felt like it. But one gets the impression that Wong Kar Wai is struggling; rehashing his old tricks isn’t quite enough, but neither is leaving them behind. How can his themes, images and concerns evolve with him? Christopher Doyle had some mean things to say about how long it took to make 2046 and called it an “unnecessary” movie. So, what would a necessary Wong Kar Wai movie look like? While I wouldn’t nominate The Grandmaster as my answer to that question, I’m still glad it exists and am grateful to have seen it in a theatre where all the gold light, speeding trains and slow motion rain drops were lushly delivered on the big screen.

There is something much better, much more vital and true seeming about Days of Being Wild, as compared to The Grandmaster. Chungking Express and Fallen Angels are two of my all-time favorite movies. And yet, I have to believe in the audience allowing an artist to experiment, to struggle as they move forward, to not always just get better and better, but to falter in their attempts. If someone is truly being an artist, as Wong Kar Wai is, then that trajectory seems a more honest one in some ways. He can’t keep trying to make his ’90s movies, nor should he. His concerns are epic, slow motion, aching, beautiful, heart-breaking, life and death concerns. I will gladly watch anything he creates in his attempts to unravel all that. And here’s hoping maybe he and Christopher Doyle make up.

**Days of Being Wild, In The Mood For Love, Happy Together, Fallen Angels and As Tears Go By are all currently available on Netflix Instant. Watch them.

[PalmStriker]

Different take for the serious practitioner: http://chinesemartialstudies.com/201...y-jon-nielson/